Space Force renewed for Season 2: Netflix has renewed its Steve Carrell comedy Space Force for a second season. Co-created by Carrell and Greg Daniels, the show follows Carrell as an Air Force general who is tasked with creating the sixth branch of the US military, the Space Force.
Darkwing Duck reboot coming to Disney+: The “Terror That Flaps in the Night” is getting a Disney+ reboot with a new Darkwing Duck series coming to the platform. It’s unclear if this will be a spin-off of the excellent new Ducktales, which has featured a reimagined version of Darkwing multiple times, even giving him his own episode in the current season. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen are producing the new show.
Short Circuit reboot in development: Another 80s classic is getting the remake treatment as a new Short Circuit is in development. There’s not a lot of plot details but it will apparently have a Latinx spin from screenwriters Eduardo Cisneros and Jason Shuman. The original movie found lovable military robot Johnny 5 getting struck by lightning and gaining sentience, running away from the military and befriending Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg.
Live-action Lilo & Stitch gets a director: The live-action Disney remakes show no sign of stopping and Lilo & Stitch is the latest one in development with Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu at the helm. Chu recently signed on to direct the Disney+ Willow series as well. It’s not clear if the new Lilo & Stitch will go to theaters or be a Disney+ exclusive.
The Island of Dr. Moreau getting a new TV series: A new version of the genre stalwart The Island of Dr. Moreau is in development as a TV series. The show, “focuses on world-renowned scientist Dr. Jessica Moreau, whose pioneering work in genetic engineering catches the eye of a billionaire backer willing to stop at nothing to reach the next step of human evolution” and will be set in the modern-day. X-Men: First Class screenwriter Zack Stentz is writing the series.
Black Lightning spin-off in development: The “CWverse” is getting bigger with a spin-off from Black Lightning focusing on Painkiller. Played by Jordan Calloway on the main series, Khalil Payne aka Painkiller has had a roller coaster of a character arc where he was the boyfriend of Black Lightning’s youngest daughter, Jennifer, and got his spine damaged by a stray bullet. He accepted an offer from the main villain, Tobias Whale, to get cybernetic enhancements but was used as a weapon against Black Lightning. Thought dead, he was brainwashed and enhanced even further by the nefarious government agency, the ASA, becoming Painkiller. In the last season, Khalil was able to force the Painkiller personality back into a locked part of his brain but it could escape at any time. In the spin-off, Khalil leaves Freeland and goes to a new city, Akashic Valley, and becomes that city’s new hero while still battling his dark side.
Wandavision gets a release date: Originally teased to possibly be out late this year, the first MCU Disney+ show, Wandavision, is officially arriving on January 15th next year. The new show focuses on the relationship between Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) through the lens of possibly different multiverses that have different TV sitcom stylings.
Lionsgate picks up Video Nasty movie: Lionsgate has picked up what sounds like a potentially awesome meta-horror movie, Video Nasty. The premise is that three teens rent a curse VHS tape and end up trapped in an 80s slasher movie. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen are producing and 50/50 and Warm Bodies director Jonathan Levine may be in talks to produce and direct as well.
Arnold Schwarzenegger spy series coming to Netflix: Arnold’s first-ever scripted TV series is coming to Netflix with a still-untitled spy adventure series. Arnold will co-star with Top Gun: Maverick’s Monica Barbaro as his daughter as the pair go on global spy adventures. The series was created by Nick Santora, who is also showrunning the upcoming Jack Reacher series on Amazon.
Millie Bobby Brown starring in Damsel for Netflix: Millie Bobby Brown is all in at Netflix, starring Stranger Things and the recent Enola Holmes and now she’ll star in the new fantasy movie, Damsel. Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who directed 28 Weeks Later, Brown will play Princess Elodie, who believes she is to marry Prince Henry from a rival kingdom but finds herself being offered as a sacrifice to a dragon. Elodie discovers the warrior within as she battles the dragon.
Michael Bay directing Speed inspired action movie Ambulance: Michael Bay is throwing back to Speed and other 90s action movies, like his own Bad Boys, for a new action movie called Ambulance. The movie will star Jake Gyllenhaal and, while there are no plot details, it is a remake of a Dutch movie called Ambulancen that came out in 2005. In Ambulancen, two brothers steal an ambulance and use it as their getaway vehicle after a robbery, so it’s probably safe to assume Bay’s version will have a similar plot.
Peacemaker TV series gets more cast members: The upcoming HBO Max spin-off from James Gunn’s Suicide Squad movie added more cast members this past week. Along with John Cena starring as the title character and joined by his movie co-stars Steve Agee and Jennifer Holland, Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, and Chris Conrad joined the cast. Conrad will be playing Adrian Chase/Vigilante, most recently seen in live-action on Arrow, although this will be a completely new take on the character. The Peacemaker show will follow the character’s origins before he joined the Squad and James Gunn is writing every episode and directing multiple episodes.
Sorority House Massacre getting a TV series reboot: 80s slasher classic Sorority House Massacre is getting a new TV series with Norman Reedus producing. There aren’t a lot of plot details or how and if it will be updated for the modern-day. The original movie was produced by Roger Corman and followed a sorority girl named Beth and her sorority sisters as they were stalked by a psychopathic killer that somehow had a telepathic link to Beth.
Johnny Depp leaves Fantastic Beasts, Mads Mikkelsen in talks to replace him: Most likely because of the ongoing legal morass that Johnny Depp has found himself in against ex-wife Amber Heard, Warner Bros. requested the actor step down from his role as Grindlewald in the Fantastic Beasts movies. That was late last week and this week we learned that Mads Mikkelsen may be in early talks to replace Depp. Depp filmed one scene for the upcoming movie before leaving and will be paid $10 million.
Umbrella Academy renewed for Season 3: Netflix officially renewed The Umbrella Academy for a third season. The show has become a fan favorite, especially with the second season that debuted earlier this year that sent the Hargreeves siblings back in time to the 60s. The new season will go into production in February next year.
Liam Neeson starring in Speed style action movie Retribution: Like Michael Bay above, Liam Neeson is looking to Speed for inspiration for his upcoming action project, Retribution. Neeson will star as a businessman who discovers that an unknown assailant has wired his car to explode and the assailant will detonate it if Neeson doesn’t complete a series of tasks for them. To up the ante, Neeson’s family is in the car with him. Nimrod Antal, who directed Predators and Metallica: Through the Never, is directing. The movie is a remake of a 2015 Spanish movie called El Desconcido.
Bloodshot 2 in development: Despite coming out only a few weeks before everything shutdown from the pandemic, Bloodshot has apparently been a success on VOD and theatrically to warrant a sequel, which is currently in development. Vin Diesel will return as Bloodshot, although there’s no info on if co-stars Eiza Gonzalez and Lamore Morris will return or who will be writing/directing.
Night Has Fallen brings back Gerard Butler’s Mike Banning: One of the unlikeliest franchises in action history, the “Blank” Has Fallen franchise is getting a fourth entry with the upcoming Night Has Fallen. Ric Roman Waugh, who directed Angel Has Fallen, will return to direct this new movie with Gerard Butler back as Mike Banning. There are no plot details or what threat the, now Director of the Secret Service, will face.
A Quiet Place 3 in development: We, unfortunately, did not get to see A Quiet Place 2 this year, hopefully, that will happen next year, but a third movie in the series is in development. Based on an idea from John Krasinski, the movie will be written and directed by Jeff Nichols, who directed movies like Midnight Special and Take Shelter, both starring Michael Shannon. It’s not clear if the third entry would continue to follow Emily Blunt and her family or follow new characters (hopefully Michael Shannon?!). A Quiet Place 2 is coming out on April 23rd next year.
RIP Alex Trebek: We lost a pop culture icon last week as Alex Trebek, unfortunately, lost his battle against cancer and passed away at age 80. Trebek was very publically fighting pancreatic cancer and was still hosting Jeopardy while getting treatments. There are apparently enough new episodes of Jeopardy with Alex to last until Christmas Day. Besides hosting Jeopardy, Trebek also hosted a slew of other game shows throughout the 70s and 80s and appeared in numerous TV shows and movies, usually if something Jeopardy related was involved.
The Outsider canceled at HBO: Despite reports from Stephen King himself that scripts for Season 2 of The Outsider were being written, HBO is not moving forward with the second season of the show. It’s being shopped around to other potential streaming and broadcast networks.
The Rock looking to reboot The Scorpion King: The Rock and his producing partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia are looking to reboot The Rock’s first major starring role, The Scorpion King. The Rock first appeared as the character in The Mummy Returns as the secondary antagonist but became the hero in the spin-off movie. There have been four other movies in the Scorpion King series that have gone direct to video, none with The Rock. This new version may apparently be set in the modern-day, so possibly maybe following a descendant of The Scorpion King aka Mathayus or maybe having to do with some sort of artifact tied to the Scorpion King? As long as it’s better than The Mummy reboot, we’re interested.
